Machines for operating upon shoe soles



Oct. 25, 1955 A. s. CLARK MACHINES FOR OPERATING UPON SHOE SOLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1954 [nve n for Alfred J Clark 5 Maggi? @CL 25, 1955 5 CLARK 2,721,344

MACHINES FOR OPERATING UPON SHOE SOL-ES Filed Feb. 25, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [n 122 n for Alfredfi. C/ark. Fig.4 fiz h z; Affom United States Patent MACHINES FOR OPERATING UPON snot: soLEs Alfred S. Clark, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 25, 1954, Serial No. 412,458

8 Claims. (Cl. 1240) This invention relates to machines for operating upon shoe soles and is herein disclosed as embodied in a lip cutting and scoring machine of the type disclosed in a copending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 250,762, filed in my name October 10, 1951. The machine shown herein, like that disclosed in said application, is employed for the purpose of forming incisions (i. e. channel lip cuts) in or visible marks upon the flesh surface of an insole to define the terminations of the prospective sewing rib and for the further purpose of impressing size and width markings and, if desired, other indications upon various kinds of soles, and it is claimed broadly in said application. The machine illustrated herein, however, differs from the machine of said application in various particulars which render it especially suitable for operation upon soles destined for shoes of the type wherein the welt extends around the forepart only. In such soles the sewing rib (whether cement attached or formed by raised channel lips) usually ends some distance rearwardly of the ball line and at a locality which, in the finished shoe, is known as the break line. The break line extends diagonally across the sole and therefore the channel lip cuts or visible marks, which are adjacent to the opposite lateral edges of the sole, are not opposite each other but are staggered longitudinally of the sole. It has been a common practice to make these cuts or marks colinear and approximately coincidental with the break line; it is preferable however to make the cuts or marks, not colinear, but substantially at right angles to the lateral edges of the sole which, in the vicinity of the break line, are sharply curved. It is desirable, therefore, to provide for orienting the lip cutting knives or marking tools with respect to the sole edges, as well as to provide for ready longitudinal adjustment of the knives or marking tools to bring them into their suitable staggered operating positions for right and left soles. It is, moreover, especially desirable to provide for so positioning the sole as to enable the knives or marking tools on the one hand, and the size and width markers on the other hand, to perform their respective functions simultaneously in a single operation of the machine, regardless of whether the sole presented be a right or a left.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which fulfills the requirements outlined above.

The several features of the invention, including details of construction and arrangement of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken on the longitudinal center line of an illustrative machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the work table, the gaging mechanism, and the knife carriers of the machine shown in Fig. 1, showing portions of the frame in section;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line VV of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of one of the knives with its associated block and gages.

In the following description of an illustrative machine embodying the invention, all parts numbered 10 to 74,

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inclusive, except the forward centering gages 20 and 22 and the tools 28 and 30, will be mentioned only briefly, because they are like corresponding parts of the machine illustrated and described in said application Serial No. 250,762, to which reference may be had for a more detailed disclosure.

The machine shown herein has a work table 10 for supporting an insole S, the work table being a rigid portion of a frame 12 adapted to rest upon a work bench. The sole S, with its flesh surface uppermost, is gaged longitudinally on the Work table 10 by a heel end gage 14, and it is centered laterally by a rear pair of coordinated centering gages 16 and 18 engageable with the opposite lateral edges of the sole near the heel end and a forward pair of coordinated centering gages 20 and 22 engageable with the opposite lateral edges of the sole at approximately the ends of the break line. Associated with the work table are dies 24 and 26 for impressing size and width marks respectively on the under or grain surface of the sole S. Associated with the forward centering gages 20 and 22 respectively are tools 28 and 30 which, as shown herein, may be chisel shaped knives for making straight cuts into the flesh surface of the sole S to define the ends of the channel lips or, if desired, they may be tools for impressing visible marks, such as indentations or ink marks, upon the surface of the sole.

Downward pressure for pressing the sole S against the dies 24 and 26, and for operating the knives 28 and 30, is obtained from a head 32, carried by a parallel linkage 34 and driven, through a toggle mechanism 36, by an eccentrio 38 on a drive shaft 40 under control of a one revolution clutch. Carried by the head 32 and engageable, on the downward stroke of the head, with the sole S are a pair of pressers 42 and 44 which cooperate with the dies 24 and 26 respectively to cause size and width marks to be impressed on the grain surface of the sole. The precise point at which the head 32 terminates its operative or downward movement can be varied by an adjusting mechanism 46.

The heel gage 14 is carried by a slide 48 slidable forwardly and rearwardly in a guideway formed in a lower slide 50 which slides forwardly and rearwardly on the work table 10 and carries a depending block 52 extending down through a guide slot 54 in the work table. A cam follower 56 on the block 52 engages a slot formed in a helical cam 58 which is turned for adjustment by a hand wheel 60. This adjustment automatically brings the appropriate size marking die 24 into operating position. A nut 62 (Fig. 2) can be loosened to permit relative adjustment between the slides 48 and 50. The rear centering gages 16 and 18 are carried by bell crank levers 64 and 66 respectively, fulcrumed on pins 68 and 70 secured in the heel gage 14. The levers 64 and 66 have inwardly turned arms having a pin-and-slot connection with each other to coordinate the lateral movements of the gages 16 and 18 with respective to the longitudinal center line of the machine. A spring 72 urges the gages 16 and 18 against the lateral edges of the sole, and a stop 74 holds them apart in the absence of a sole. A similar arrangement of centering gages is shown in Fig. 14 of said application Serial No. 250,762.

The various parts of the machine as so far described, except the forward centering gages 20 and 22 and the knives 28 and 30, are like corresponding parts of the machine disclosed in said application. The parts now to be described, however, are different and will be described in greater detail.

The forward centering gage 20 and the knife 28 are carried by the forward end of the carrier bar 76 which has its rear end pivotally connected by a pin 78 to a transverse manually operable lever 80. The forward centering gage 22 and the knife 30 are carried by the forward end of a carrier bar 82 which has its rear end pivotally connected by a pin 84 to the lever 80. The lever 80 is fulcrumed mid-way between the pins 78 and 84 upon a pin 86 secured in a shelf 88 which partially overlies the slides 48 and 50 and which constitutes a rigid portion of the frame of the machine. A compression spring 90 surrounding the fulcrum pin 86 presses the lever 80 frictionally against the shelf 88 to prevent undesired movement of the lever. The extent to which the lever 84} can swing clockwise about its fulcrum 86 is limited by a stop screw 92 threaded through an ear 94 upstanding from a bracket 96 and having its end engageable with an ear 98 upstanding from the lever 81). The extent to which the lever 80 can swing counterclockwise is limited by a stop screw 100 threaded through an ear 102 upstanding from the bracket 96 and having its end engageable with an ear 104 upstanding from the lever 80. Not only can the screws 92 and 101) be adjusted individually, but the bracket 96 can be adjusted forwardlly and rearwardly along a guide plate 106 secured on the shelf 88 and engageable with a guide slot in the under surface of the bracket. The bracket 96 is clamped in adjusted position by a screw 198 threaded into the shelf $8 and extending through a slot 111 in the bracket.

The swinging movements of the carrier bars 76 and 82 about their pivot pins 78 and 84 are coordinated with respect to the longitudinal center line of the machine by a pair of levers in the form of bell cranks 112 and 114 fulcrumed respectively upon pins 116 and 118 secured in the shelf 88. The bell cranks 112 and 114 have inwardly extending arms having a pin and slot connection 120 with each other, and they have also forwardly extending arms having pin and slot connections 12.2 and 124 respectively with the carrier bars 76 and 82. The inwardly directed arm of the bell crank 112 is ofiset upwardly to overlap the inwardly directed arm of the bell crank 114. A tension spring 126 stretched between the forwardly extending arms of the coordinating bell cranks 112 and 114 holds the carrier bars 76 and 82 in an initial position from which they can yield when the sole S is passed between the forward centering gages 20 and 22. The spring 126 thus holds the gages 2th and 22 against the respective lateral edges of the sole. The inital position above referred to is determined by an adjustable stop screw 128 threaded through a lug at the forward end portion of the carrier bar 82 and engageable with a side wall of the frame 12.

The construction just described enables the knives 28 and 30 together with the centering gages 20 and 22 to be readily adjusted to their proper staggered positions for 7 right and left soles while at the same time maintaining their coordination with respect to the longitudinal center line of the machine.

The forward centering gage 21 has a shank slidable in a groove formed in the under surface of an inwardly directed extension 132 of the forward end of the carrier bar 76. A clamping screw 1.34 holds the shank of the gage 20 in a desired position of adjustment, laterally of the machine, on the extension 132. Secured in the extension 132 is a pin 136 upon which is pivotally mounted a block 138 which swings over the sole S. The knife 28 is clamped by screws upon a flat surface of a pin 1411 which is slidably guided for heightwise movement in the block 138. The knife 28 has a flat shank which engages a finished surface on the block 135 to prevent turning of the sliding pin 146. A spring 142 surrounding the pin 140 and interposed between a head on the pin and the top surface of the block 138 yieldingly holds the knife up as far as permitted by a stop 143 (Fig. 3). Secured on the block 138 is a gage 144 engageable with the adjacent lateral edge of the sole. A tension spring 146 stretched between the block 138 and the carrier bar 76 yieldingly holds the gage 144 against the sole edge or, when no work is in the machine, in a limiting position determined by a stop 148 on the block and engageable with the extension 132. The axis of the pivot pin 136 about which the knife block 138 swings is at or close to the work-engaging locality of the centering gage 20. The gages 2i and 144 together constitute a two point contact gage for orienting the knife 28 with respect to the direction of the sole edge at the locality of their contact. The edge of the knife 28 should ordinarily be about to the edge of the sole; this angle may, however, be varied by adjusting the gage 20 in or out on the extension 132.

The arrangements of the forward centering gage 22 and the knife 31? on the carrier bar 82 are similar to the above mentioned corresponding arrangements of the forward centering gage 2t and the knife 28 on the carrier bar 76, and are similarly numbered on the drawings; further description of them is unnecessary.

The knives 28 and 30 are forced down into the upper surface of the sole by a pair of pressers 1511 and 152 respectively. These pressers 150 and 152 have feet 154 and 156 large enough to engage the heads of the pins 140 for any operative positions of the knives 28 and 30 either laterally or longitudinally of the machine. The pressers 151) and 152 are mounted for individual heightwise adjustment on a block 158 secured by clamping screws 160 on the head 32. The pressers 156 and 152 have sliding tongue and groove engagement with the block 158 to permit heightwise adjustment, and they are secured in their adjusted positions by clamping screws 162. Stop screws 16d threaded through lugs on the block 158 facilitate fine adjustment of the pressers 151i and 152.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood in view of the foregoing description. After the desired adjustments have been made, the sole S, for eX- ample a left insole as shown in Fig. 2, is placed grain side down on the work table 11 and the heel end of the sole is brought against the heel gage 14-. The centering gages 16, 18, 2t? and 22 serve to position the sole S laterally with respect to the longitudinal center line of the machine and also with respect to the size and width marking dies 24 and 26. The forward centering gages 20 and 22 further serve to position the knives 28 and 3t) relatively to the sole and, in conjunction with the gages 144, they operate as two point contact gages to orient the knives relatively to the sole edges. The treadle (not shown) is now depressed to cause the head 32 to descend and bring the knives 28 and 313, and the pressers 42 and 44, down into operative engagement with the sole S. The head 32 then rises and the operator shifts the lever 80 to reverse the longitudinal stagger of the carrier arms 76 and 82, thereby adjusting the machine for a right insole, and, after removing the left insole and inserting a right insole, he again depresses the treadle to perform a similar operation on the right insole.

Although, as has already been stated, the tools 28 and 31 have herein been described and illustrated as knives, it will be understood that other tools for operating on soles, such as ink markers or indenting tools, could be substituted for the knives and still be within the scope of invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a connection between the tools for coordinating their longitudinal adjustments into operating positions whereby when either tool is advanced the other is retracted, a gage associated with each tool and engageable with an edge of the sole to determine the operating position of the tool laterally of the sole, means for holding each gage yieldingly in contact with an edge of the sole, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

2. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a connection between the tools for coordinating their longitudinal adjustments into operating positions whereby when either tool is advanced the other is retracted, a two point contact gage associated with each tool and engageable with an edge of the sole to orient the tool and also to determine the operating position of the tool laterally of the sole, resilient means for holding said two point contact gages against the edge of the sole, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

3. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a pair of blocks in each of which is carried one of the tools, a lever disposed transversely of the sole, a fulcrum upon which the lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement, a pair of bars each of which connects one of the blocks to the lever, said bars being pivotally connected to the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum whereby swinging movement of the lever in one direction advances one tool and retracts the other, and in the opposite direction retracts said one tool and advances the other, a gage on each bar engageable with a lateral edge of the sole to gage the tool laterally with respect thereto, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

4. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a pair of blocks in each of which is carried one of the tools, a lever disposed transversely of the sole, a fulcrum upon which the lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement, a pair of bars each of which connects one of the blocks to the lever, said bars being connected to the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum whereby swinging movement of the lever in one direction advances one tool and retracts the other, and in the opposite direction retracts said one tool and advances the other, said blocks being pivotally connected to the bars to permit orientation of the tools, a two point contact gage associated with each tool engageable with the edge of the sole to orient the tool relatively to the sole edge at the locality of operation, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

5. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a pair of blocks in each of which is carried one of the tools, a lever disposed transversely of the sole, a fulcrum upon which the lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement, a pair of bars each of which connects one of the blocks to the lever, said bars being pivotally connected to the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum whereby swinging movement of the lever in one direction advances one tool and retracts the other, and in the opposite direction retracts said one tool and advances the other, said blocks being pivotally connected to the bars to permit orientation of the tools, a pair of two point contact gages each associated with one of the tools to orient its associated tool relatively to the sole edge at the locality of operation, resilient means for urging said gages against the edges of the sole to position the tools laterally with respect to the sole and to cause the gages to orient the tools, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

6. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on rigli't and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a pair of blocks in each of which is carried one of the tools, a carrier for each tool, a lever disposed transversely of the sole, a fulcrum upon which the lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement, a pair of bars each of which connects one of the blocks to the lever, said bars being pivotally connected to the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum whereby swinging movement of the lever in one direction advances one tool and retracts the other, and in the opposite direction retracts said one tool and advances the other, a pair of gages, one of said gages being on each of said bars and being engageable with an edge of the sole to gage the tool on its associated bar laterally of the sole, means for coordinating the lateral movements of said edge gages with respect to a common center line whereby the operation of the gages centers the sole laterally on the work table, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

7. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a sole end gage for determining the longitudinal position of a sole on the work table, a pair of tools engageable with the sole and longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto for performing operations on right and left soles adjacent to the opposite lateral edges thereof, a pair of blocks in each of which is carried one of the tools, a lever disposed transversely of the sole, a fulcrum upon which the lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement, a pair of bars each of which connects one of the blocks to the lever, said bars being pivotally connected to the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum whereby swinging movement of the lever in one direction advances one tool and retracts the other, and in the opposite direction retracts said one tool and advances the other, a gage on each bar engageable with an edge of the sole to gage the tool on that bar laterally of the sole, a pair of levers fulcrumed for swinging movement of their free ends toward and from each other laterally of the sole, a connection between said levers for coordinating their movements with respect to a common center line, sliding connections between the free ends of the levers and the respective bars whereby the lateral move ments of the bars and thereby of the tools are coordinated with respect to saidcenter line, and means for moving the tools into operative engagement with the sole.

8. In a machine for operating on shoe soles, a work table, a pair of gages engageable with the opposite lateral edges of a sole on the work table, a pair of carriers on each of which is mounted one of the gages, resilient means acting on the carriers for holding the gages against the respective lateral edges of the sole, a pair of blocks each of which is pivotally mounted on one of said carriers for swinging movement, a gage on each block engageable with the same lateral edge of the sole as the gage on the carrier of its associated block, a tool on each block for performing an operation on the sole adjacent to a lateral edge thereof, and a pair of springs acting on the respective blocks to urge the gages associated with the blocks against the respective lateral edges of the sole and thereby to orient the tools with respect to the sole edges.

Bucknam Feb. 22, 1916 Stewart Aug. 17, 1920 

